Reviews with content warning for Death - The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

I guess this book just didn’t hit me like it did everyone else. It wasn’t the meaningful coming-of-age contemporary novel that almost everyone else described it as. It felt more like a cheesy, offensive picture book that’s filled with bad jokes.

Just completely ignoring the SA allegations against Alexie for a hot second, the humour was in the style of dad jokes and were 90% just self deprivation. I guess the self deprivation was funny in like the first three chapters but got really boring, really quickly.

“So she was all white on white on white, like the most perfect kind of vanilla dessert cake you’ve ever seen.

I wanted to be her chocolate topping.” (page 114)

It was so exhausting being in Arnold’s head because he spoke more like a nine year old than a freshman in high school. And I would know, I’m literally the targeted age group. Arnold went from being a mediocre character before he went to Reardan (the boarding school) to a really self-centred, annoying character after going to Reardan. I feel like Alexis would be good at very silly, younger middle grade graphic novels. Something like Captain Underpants or Babymouse. You know? Something funny but immature, childish, and without a lot of depth.

Going back to the SA allegation against Alexie, you can totally see just from reading the book that those allegations were coming. Arnold is a fourteen year old boy, and the amount of times he sexualizes other fourteen year old girls is so concerning. And the way Alexie talks about women through Arnold is so uncomfortable

“The girl has an ego. But that’s sexy, too” (page 108)

“Yep, I had a big erection when I learned of my sisters death.” (page 202)

”Who knew that tears of sympathy could be so sexy?” (page 129)

“Snot ran down her face and it was still sort of sexy.” (page 213)

”(His sister) looks like Jennifer Lopez (if J. Lo. Was smarter)” (page 27)

The repeated use of slurs and incorrect and offensive representation of anorexia..

”They (anorexics) think being anorexic makes them special, makes them better than everybody else.” (page 107)

..really just topped it off too.

I really just could not find a single character or joke that I liked from this book. But I did find many characters and jokes that I absolutely, truly, hated.

Content Warnings

denki_kinnie_'s review

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

Content Warnings

zuzannab's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

swaggynikki's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny informative reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

This book was very honest, and I loved it for that. I hate when I say things like this because it sounds so reactionary and bad, but I loved that it was a story without an agenda: it wasn't meant to be inspiration porn or some sort of argument for why native american life is great, actually, and they have everything figured out. It was just this really genuine and realistic story. At first the narration was very "I'm a teenage boy and I love jerking off!" which I didn't love even if it is realistic, but the descriptions of his life and the people around him and his decisions definitely made up for it. At first the books starts... not lighthearted, exactly, because there's plenty of dark shit in the beginning, but about halfway through it has this sharp tone shift into ultimate emotionally damaging territory. It was just a really sweet and sad coming-of-age story, and a unique look into the conditions of living on a reservation that I really valued reading.

Content Warnings

honeyhistory103's review

Go to review page

challenging emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

I had a hard time finishing this one. At a third of the way through, I still hadn’t connected to any of the characters, least of all Junior/Arnold, and was really tempted to put it down. Sherman does an excellent job of getting into the head of a 14 year old boy, which may have been part of why I failed to connect in any way until over halfway though, and even then, I never found myself particularly liking any of the characters. The entire book felt anecdotal, but not in the atmospheric way that some books can take on.

Despite overall not enjoying the characters or plot, there were some really nice emotional moments in the story, and it definitely encourages one to consider the problems that plague Native American reservations today.

Content Warnings

lilymurph's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

gena10's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

itsmeyseniab's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

"The world is only broken into two tribes: the people who are assholes and the people who are not."

Being Native myself, I was so excited to read this own-voices novel! I think Sherman Alexie did a great job of capturing what life is truly like on the rez, and really highlighted a lot of the issues that Native people face day to day. However, I do think that it got to be a bit much by the end of the novel - some of the events that took place seemed to be added in for "shock value" in my eyes. Still a good coming-of-age story if you're looking for a fast-paced read!

Content Warnings

More...